The Lutherville Volunteer Fire Company received a grant of $7,700 on Monday to put toward a thermal imaging camera that will help them see through smoke and fire more easily.
“We can?t set a price on public safety,” said Fire Chief Mike Heiler. But he said the significant donation will help aid firefighters in extinguishing blazes faster and more efficiently.
The thermal imaging camera, donated by Diversified Insurance Industries Inc. and Fireman?s Fund Insurance Co., will help find trapped citizens or hidden fires in walls, Heiler said. The camera picks up heat signatures and will help point the firefighter in the direction of the beginning of the fire, said Steve Weatherby, first lieutenant in the fire department.
The screen on the camera will flash green when the temperature is between 0 and 300 degrees, and will change to red if the temperature rises.
This makes it easier for firefighters to know if they are getting closer to the fire even if visibility is poor or impossible.
“Instead of tearing up the entire wall [of the house] because you can?t see through smoke and fire, firefighters can now use the thermal imaging camera to find the fire without destroying people?s property,” Weatherby said. “This is a huge benefit for citizens.”
Lutherville already has one thermal imaging camera and could benefit from another one, Heiler said. The lone camera is divided among all of the fire trucks in the department, and if it is in use the rest of the department suffers. “This allows us to spread out the tools of the department,” he said. “The volunteer firemen will undergo a minimum of four hours of training, a PowerPoint presentation and on-the-scene training” to learn how to use the new camera.
“We have 33 different volunteer fire companies [throughout the county,] and this lets individuals know they are in fact valued by the company,” said John Hohman, Baltimore County fire chief.
